Just to be clear: we’ve never allowed personal insults directed against other posters, outside the Pit forum. So, no, you can’t call another poster a “motherfucker” or “full of shit” or “moron” or any other insult. You may direct such language at non-posters (politicians, musicians, Hollywood moguls, whoever) all you please. We’re not trying to censor language, we’re only trying to have a polite level of discussion.
That rule is relaxed in the forum called the Pit. That’s the place where, if you must flame other posters, you may do so. However, because the flaming had got out of hand, we’ve changed the rules slightly, to say that there are limits, even in the Pit, to what you may call another poster.
Again, our goal is not to simply censor language for its own sake, but to try to promote a reasonably civil level of discussion and participation, so that everyone can play nicely together.
As I stated in the linked thread hate speech terms jump out at me as much worse terms of abuse. There really are not any “swear” terms that I find particularly powerful. Oh some are more vulgar than others, but that is not the same as forceful. To me cunt is vulgar on par with cock. But please join the thread there.
For the most part, I understood the rule regarding personal insults. I just thought that cunt was off-limits, period. I don’t know where or why I got that impression, but the rule as stated is certainly a rule I can live with.